Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn - "Part 1" Review

Halo returns to live-action in a more ambitious form.

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October 5, 2012

Microsoft and Bungie dabbled in bringing the Halo franchise into the live-action realm, most notably with Neil Blomkamp's short film Halo 3: Landfall. But with 343 Studios now in charge of steering the franchise forward, the decision was made to be even more ambitious in promoting Halo 4. Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn is an episodic webseries that acts as both a prologue to Halo 4 and a general primer for viewers who have never played a Halo game.

The first episode is now available to view on the official Halo website - check it out and then continue on with our spoiler-filled review below!

Well, "Part 1" certainly brings us that much closer to a real, live-action Halo movie. The production quality in Forward Unto Dawn is a clear cut above something like Landfall, if still not entirely on par with what we might see in a network TV series. Forward Unto Dawn feels more like a Syfy series without the camp factor. The attention to detail in terms of armor, weaponry, and architecture is impressive. Granted, at times the visual divide between the human actors and the digital elements in the frame was very noticeable. But ultimately, the question is what standard do you judge this series by - big-budget television or modest webseries? The look and design of Forward Unto Dawn is certainly more impressive than I was expecting.

Unfortunately, none of that translated terribly well when it came time for the big action scene. One problem is that too few of the actors portraying UNSC trainees were very physically convincing. I'm not sure what age these characters are supposed to be, but few of the actors had the build or the hardened quality you'd expect from grunts going through the best military training the 26th Century has to offer. The other problem was that the camera pulled in too close when the bullets started to fly. There were too many close-up shots and quick cuts, so that the episode completely abandoned the sense of scope the firefights in Halo usually have. To be fair, this isn't exactly Master Chief battling Brutes we're talking about here, but I do worry about the ability of future episodes to effectively convey the threat of the Covenant based on the quality of the action here.

Ultimately, the characters are what will make or break a series like this. If action and bloodshed was the only goal, why not just replay the games? Forward Unto Dawn seems on firm ground in this regard. This episode takes place just prior to the start of the war between Earth and the Covenant, in a time when rebel farmers and insurrectionists are the biggest problems the UNSC have to contend with. It's a wise move as far as appealing to Halo newcomers goes.

Thomas Lasky (Tom Green) is positioned as the everyman hero of the series, with The Chronicles of Narnia's Anna Popplewell lending a bit of star power as fellow trainee Chyler Silva. None of the other characters do much to stand out in this opening episode. Even Michael Dopud's General Black seemed less like a fierce commanding officer and more like a guy with a sore throat. But Lasky and Silva are enough for now. Green brings the right blend of determination and vulnerability to his role. Lasky is the kind of character Halo fans can root for in the way they never really could for the enigmatic Master Chief. He has a good heart but struggles under the shadow of more successful family members and with the apparent lack of emotional investment in the UNSC's war. In that sense, the grim, driven Silva serves as the perfect foil. Though Popplewell too is less than convincing as a marine grunt, she plays well off of Green's character and hints at a tragic, unspoken past.

"Part 1" was at its strongest in its final minutes. More intimate in scope, these scenes allowed viewers to hone in on Lasky and Silva and build emotional attachments ahead of the coming war. I'm still a little wary of how well this series will be able to convey the scope of that war, and most of the secondary characters feel like generic window dressing, but Forward Unto Dawn seems to have the heart it needs to function as more than just an expensive commercial for a game we're all going to buy regardless.